I agree it's not like a set of Grado's, or that plot of the Audeze 'phones that you posted- but to say "the HD800 has no ringing" - really? None? As in zero? True, it has a better waterfall plot than just about anything else out there, but that only serves to more fully expose it's flaw at 6 kHz. If there was more random peakiness / longer die-off times all over the place in the HD800 plot, it would mask the problems at 6 kHz to some degree, the 6 kHz issue wouldn't stand out as much as it does now.

Sure looks like energy stays around a little longer at 6 kHz than it does in the frequency regime around ~3 kHz where it seems betterl damped.

My point wasn't that the HD800's are a lousy headphone which ring like tin cans- my point was that it's not just a 6 kHz peak that is the issue, but some energy storage at that frequency as well. Because it's a time-domain issue and not just a frequency domain one, no amplifier pairing will be able to get rid of it.

The counter to that would be that the level starts higher at 6K compared to 3K as well. So it could simply be the 3K plot lifted. But ringing is when the frequency literally rings continuously even after the signal is gone like in the LCD-3 plot. The joke is that GoldenEars got a little ringing around 3K...

My point wasn't that the HD800's are a lousy headphone which ring like tin cans- my point was that it's not just a 6 kHz peak that is the issue, but some energy storage at that frequency as well. Because it's a time-domain issue and not just a frequency domain one, no amplifier pairing will be able to get rid of it.

Imho, the sub bass is a bigger issue on the hd800. You can see in this graph that there are flaws below 1k. And if the hd800 got more sub bass , people 's attention, wouldn't be focused on the treble. From what I've heard the mid bass is fine, but I would think that the hd800 would sound more natural and balanced, if they got more sub bass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solude

The counter to that would be that the level starts higher at 6K compared to 3K as well. So it could simply be the 3K plot lifted. But ringing is when the frequency literally rings continuously even after the signal is gone like in the LCD-3 plot. The joke is that GoldenEars got a little ringing around 3K...

So the csd graph of hd800 at golden ear website is valid ? Because the csd of the cheaper srh940 looks so much better.

I agree it's not like a set of Grado's, or that plot of the Audeze 'phones that you posted- but to say "the HD800 has no ringing" - really? None? As in zero? True, it has a better waterfall plot than just about anything else out there, but that only serves to more fully expose it's flaw at 6 kHz. If there was more random peakiness / longer die-off times all over the place in the HD800 plot, it would mask the problems at 6 kHz to some degree, the 6 kHz issue wouldn't stand out as much as it does now.

Sure looks like energy stays around a little longer at 6 kHz than it does in the frequency regime around ~3 kHz where it seems betterl damped.

My point wasn't that the HD800's are a lousy headphone which ring like tin cans- my point was that it's not just a 6 kHz peak that is the issue, but some energy storage at that frequency as well. Because it's a time-domain issue and not just a frequency domain one, no amplifier pairing will be able to get rid of it.

Really stretching on this one. Finding the slightest flaw that isn't even audible to prove a point. That's like saying Michael Jordan wasn't a great player because his 3 point shooting % is not that good.

So I waltzed in here a week or so ago and was told the SA5000 are the closest cans that come to the HD800's

Realizing that I would prefer an easy to amp can, I decided to go with the HE400

But I see SA5000's on sale used for $375. How much am I looking to spend on an amp/DAC to get these to sound good and/or remotely similar to HD800's?

Fast responses would be appreciated...I missed out on bidding on these a week ago and the winning bid was $300. I almost cried

Or maybe I'm still better off sticking with the HE400's?

Well, If the SA5K is anything simliar sounding to the SA3K I honestly can't recommend it. Instead for $375 I would recommend the K702 65th anniversary or K712 if the street price comes down similarly. I'm not saying the K702 65th is that similar to the HD800 but it errs more towards the unoffensive side versus the SA3K that I found to be offensively bright and bassless. Not sure how much the SA5K improves on this.

I'd honestly love to hear the K7xx again now that I have my Burson Soloist but I had to sell them to fund my HD800. I even felt my old K701 was more enjoyable than when I heard the SA3K. Just all IMHO of course.

This is my bedside rig that I use to listen to music while I´m on my laptop or reading. I must say that the HD800 have been taken to a new dimension with the new Benchmark DAC I and the almighty XA7ES as a transport. Just wonderful sound all around in case anybody is considering a Dac/amp to drive these phones.

My HD800 should be stable for a while. I had a good setup before except the DAC wasn't as good as the DAC I use for my HE6 except that is only has one output and it is SE. I ended up with a Buffalo III DAC which I got recently in the FS and my HD800 rig sounds fantastic. It's as if it was meant for the HD800. I could live with this for a really long time.

It's starting to make me question my HE6 which hasn't moved from my stand in the last couple months. I should probably sell them considering how much I use them but for now they will stay. It probably will be addressed some time in the future.